Life Debt
by skyfethre
Summary: She accidentally stumbled across him while investigating the strong earthquakes coming from the forest. Now he believes he owes her his life.
1. Chapter 1

Her only intent was to figure out what that fierce vibration was inside Crown Forest. She did not expect to be standing to the side of a fight between a large maroon bear robot on top of an orange one with only what looked like an arm cannon pinning the other.

She did not move. She felt stuck in place.

She didn't know who was good and who was bad, so she took a wild guess. Gathering all the courage she could gain, she snatched up a rock and chucked it at the maroon one.

 _Plink_! Not even a dent to the shiny metal. His narrow face turned to look at hers, and he let out a fierce roar.

"Over here, you, you nutbrain!" she shouted, and before she realized, she found her feet carrying her as fast as they could take her through the dense forest.

She could hear the sound of metal and the large body crashing through and tearing down trees as the robot gained on her, and she dared not look back, instead using her new adrenaline to shoot her faster through the woods.

It wasn't long until she found herself in a tight grip, staring into a yellow visor as she was lifted from the ground forcefully. She squirmed a little, trying to escape, but with no way out, stopped and gave in.

"What did you call me, little fleshbag?" He had a rough baritone voice, almost on the verge of a growl. Her heart practically stopped.

"You heard me, _nutbrain_ ," she repeated, and even in her state, she kept her voice loud and firm. She was in no position to be making threats to her captor, but sucking up would do her no good either. Not at this point, at least.

Anger raged in the bear's visor, and he squeezed her tighter, causing her to cough and gasp for breath desperately.

"Drop the human, Metalbreaker."

Those calm words were the wrong words, and she knew it as soon as she heard them.

Metalbreaker looked up with a smile and loosened his grip slightly, allowing his captive to twist around and see where the new voice came from.

From the darkness limped an orange robot - the same robot from before. He held a single katana in the air pointed at Metalbreaker, and his other hand clutched at his arm.

Metalbreaker's deep, rough laugh filled the air, and suddenly, she was falling. _Screaming_ and falling.

She wasn't quite sure what happened next or how it happened, but she landed, not long after being dropped, onto metal. It was a short and soft fall. Her eyes opened to meet her savior, the orange robot, right as she heard tires speed away.

Her savior let out a breath, his blue eyes closing momentarily before looking at her.

"Are you injured?" he asked with a smooth and slightly accented voice. She shook her head, and he continued. "You saved me."

"That – that _thing_ ," she finally started, beginning to form words again, "what was it? What are _you_? _Who_ are you?" There were so many questions in her mind, though those were the only ones she could manage out.

"That was Metalbreaker," he explained, lowering his hand to the ground to allow her off safely. "A Decepticon fugitive. My team and I are here to bring him and others like him to justice."

 _Team? Others like him?_

"My name is Drift. I'm a Bounty Hunter for the High Council. And who might you be?"

"Carolyn," she breathed. "Carolyn Fench."

"Well, Carolyn Fench," he began, standing straight and placing a large hand on his chest, "I owe you a life debt."

She tilted her head slightly, not understanding. "Life debt?"

"You saved my life, so I must do everything in my power to save yours." She glanced back at the glistening city behind her.

"Well, I don't think I can bring you back," she thought aloud. "But I don't think I'll need much protection anyway. I appreciate-"

A new voice chimed in with, " _Drift! Report in!_ " He brought a hand to the side of his head.

"Metalbreaker got away. He is heading east, deep into Crown Forest." He removed his hand, and his blue eyes met Carolyn's again. "I must go." Drift turned away, but not before the human could throw out her hand, as if to stop him.

"Drift, wait!" He stopped, as did everything around. She recovered herself by putting her hand down, brushing back some stray hair behind her ears, and standing up straight. "Will I see you again?"

It was quiet for a moment, and she was almost certain she saw a slight furrow in his robotic brow.

"If you need me, I will show up here, at this location." He paused, then turned away again. "I must go now."

As he pounded off into the forest at a run, he left Carolyn standing there, alone with a smile.

She already couldn't wait to see the giant robot again.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** wow hi guys, thank ya for the follows and stuff on just the first chapter! I've been a lil hesitant to post anything on here but the few things i've gotten so far have gotten me a little more confident haha  
this next chapter is shorter but I hope you'll all enjoy it none the less!

* * *

Her face, wet with tears, felt frozen in the wind as she just ran. Her legs couldn't carry her fast enough, and her lungs ached for air. Instead of giving in, she pushed herself harder through the forest, and with blurry eyes covered with curly hair, she fought to recognize landmarks.

Carolyn's mind flashed with the sight of blood dripping from sharp, metallic fangs, the sounds of roaring, the sounds of screams. Oh gosh, the _screams_.

She had to pry the thoughts out as more tears fell, but she came across the clearing where just weeks ago she'd met her first robots. It wasn't the exact location Drift had told her he'd be if she ever needed him, but it had to work. She needed him now. "Drift!"

She gained nothing in response. The forest was silent, besides the sobs produced and the rustle of leaves through the trees. She screamed his name again, then followed the path Metalbreaker had created when he chased after her.

Carolyn refused to think of that now – only that she needed that orange robot.

She followed the path until the trees were no longer broken, and had no idea where to go now. She stood still now, gazing around and pushing hair out of her face, as if the robot would miraculously appear from the woods.

"Drift!" she cried out again, and when nothing moved, she cried out again.

Carolyn fell to her knees, more tears falling that she could not stop. What did she expect? Why would a three story tall robot go to her aid?

The ground shook with what felt like footsteps, racing towards her. She wiped her face with her hands and stood, preparing to dash off again, even though her body felt like it couldn't handle another run. Out of the forest came the familiar orange robot.

"Carolyn?" he asked, kneeling. "What is wrong? Why are you leaking from your optics?"

Carolyn let out a sob before gasping, "M-Metalbreaker – he found me – he found my family – he-" She broke down before she could finish.

Drift turned from a robot to a car in just a second, and with everything that was happening throughout the past days, she wasn't even phased. The passenger door swung open.

"Get in."

She slipped into the leather interior without question and drew her knees to her chest, unable to breathe and comprehend what was going on.

"Carolyn, tell me what happened," he said.

She couldn't gather the words or get them out of her mouth. "He's after me," was the only thing she could stammer out.

"I can assure you he is not after you," Drift said immediately.

"Then why did he destroy my home and kill my family?" she cried, and the car went silent. "Why would he single out my home if he wasn't after me? Why do you think I'm _here_?" She covered her face as she began sobbing again.

The last thing she could remember was hitting an open road before blacking out.


	3. Chapter 3

"Can we keep her?"

Those were the first words she heard as she awoke, now resting on a small plastic chair. It was long, so she figured it was more of a booth, like one that came from a restaurant. It was warm from her body laying on it, and there was what sounded like purring under her feet.

Carolyn lifted her head and brushed her wild, curly hair back out of her face with one hand. Her eyes and head hurt, mainly from yesterday but it wasn't anything major. With the thought of last night, she tried recalling if she remembered where she was brought, but nothing came to mind. And when she actually did look around her, she wasn't in any familiar surroundings. She was on the seat of a booth in a long forgotten diner, and a ginger and white kitten lay under her feet on the tiled ground. She turned to look out the window to her right, and met the beading eyes of several robots.

She let out a scream, falling off the booth and almost on the kitten, who yipped and shot up.

To her left were two humans, one an adult and the other still a child. Both were brunettes, and with similar facial features, she automatically associated the two as father and son.

Carolyn pinned her back against the end of the booth, still on her bottom.

"We won't hurt you!" the adult said, holding his hand out to help her up. She rejected it, instead, identifying a frying pan on the ground a few feet away. She scrambled out and snatched it, then held it out threateningly.

"This is who you brought back with you, Drift?" This was a new voice, coming from neither of the humans, but it caused her to freeze and lower the pan by a few inches. Her attention was drawn back to the window.

"Yes. She is in dire need of assistance from us."

That voice. She lifted to her feet, and was now able to see outside. The pan slipped out of her loose fingers, but she didn't move to collect it again. She simply gazed out at all the robots, and among them was the familiar black and orange robot that had saved her.

She snapped back to reality when the adult male reached out to her again, and she leaped back and away from him.

"She seems fine to me," the young boy said from the entrance of the diner, his arms crossing as if impatiently.

"What's your name?" the adult asked.

"Carolyn," she answered simply.

"Hi Carolyn. I'm Denny, and this is my son, Russell." The child offered a small smile when introduced. "You're in safe hands. What happened?"

"He killed them," she said, her voice cracking and eyes burning as all memories of last night came flooding back. Tears formed. "He destroyed everything. My home is gone. My family is gone."

Alarms cut her off as they started blaring suddenly, and Carolyn jumped.

"Autobots, Metalbreaker is back on our scanners." That came through some sort of radio, but the yellow robot reacted first.

"Start up the groundbridge," he commanded, then turned his attention to Drift. "Take her back somewhere she can stay. Somewhere safe."

"But Sir," a white robot on the end interrupted with a feminine voice. "She knows of our existence."

"We'll just have to hope she doesn't tell anyone." The yellow robot looked back at her, no emotion on his face, and Carolyn's blood ran cold. "Take her somewhere safe and meet us at the coordinates." He changed, as Drift did once, into a yellow sports car, and Carolyn dashed forward, past the two humans with her as she charged towards the sports car.

"Wait!" she cried. He transformed back into a robot, giving her a puzzled look. "I don't have anywhere to go."

"We can't just keep you locked up here," he said.

"And I can't go back out there without somewhere to go," she shot back, not missing a beat while she gestured to where Crown City stood. "Please, just let me stay. I won't mess anything up, I just have nowhere to go, and a huge robot is hunting me down." The yellow robot looked up at Drift for what felt like an eternity, though it was only a few racing heartbeats.

"I'm putting her under your watch since you brought her here," he muttered, glaring directly at Drift who still stood unwavering.

"Understood," was the only thing he said, expressionlessly. The smaller robots under him, both black and red and sharing similar forms, fist pumped in the air, or at least until Drift shot them a stern look. They immediately stopped and returned to standing straight.

"Denny? Russell? What do you two say?"

She'd completely forgotten about them. Her heart dropped to her stomach for a moment, and she turned around to face the two humans a few feet behind. Denny smiled.

"I don't exactly have an open room at the moment," he said. "If that's alright, then welcome to the family, Carolyn."


End file.
